MLB Player News

Paxton (hamstring) played catch off flat ground Monday, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Though Paxton wasn't able to resume mound last week like the Red Sox had initially planned, the veteran southpaw hasn't experienced any apparent setbacks in his recovery from a right hamstring strain and should be able to throw a bullpen session in the coming days. Paxton looks as though he's still roughly on pace to resume facing hitters before the end of spring training, but because he won't have enough time to get fully ramped up to handle a starter's workload, he's a virtual lock to open the season on the injured list.

McCullers (forearm) threw in the batting cage Monday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Manager Dusty Baker said Monday that McCullers was once again throwing, his second throwing session in three days as he works back from the muscle strain he suffered in his right forearm last month. The right-hander is expected to miss the first couple weeks of the season, but is he keeps progressing, it's reasonable to expect him to return to the mound by the end of April. McCullers has struggled with the injury bug over the past couple seasons, only appearing in eight games in 2022 after nursing a forearm injury he sustained in the 2021 playoffs.

Crawford allowed three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out four over 3.2 innings during Sunday's spring start against Baltimore.

Crawford gave up his first spring runs in his third Grapefruit League start, and the right-hander appears to be ticketed for a rotation spot to the start the regular season. Boston has three projected starters at various stages of rehab, which puts Crawford in the mix for an April start or two, at least. Garrett Whitlock (hip), Brayan Bello (forearm) and James Paxton (hamstring) are candidates to open the season on the injured list. Crawford saw his first significant MLB action last year and had a 5.47 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 77:29 K:BB across 77.1 frames.

Houck allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out four over 3.1 innings during Sunday's spring start against the Yankees.

Houck made his third spring start, and it's looking like he'll remain in that role for the beginning of the regular season. Both Brayan Bello (forearm) and James Paxton(hamstring) appear headed for the injured list to begin the campaign, which opens up a spot for Houck and another depth starter. Add in Garrett Whitlock (hip), who will make his spring debut this week, and there should be plenty of openings for Houck to stake his claim to the rotation.

Heaney allowed two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out five over 2.2 innings in Sunday's spring start against the Mariners.

Heaney worked around a pair of hits in two scoreless innings before Seattle got to him in the third. He was pulled with two outs in the inning but came back out to start the fourth, giving him another chance to move from the bench to the mound. After hitting the first batter in the fourth, his day was done. He made working on his changeup a priority in his third Cactus League start, per Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News. Heaney will get another three appearances in preparation for the regular season. The left-hander has allowed four runs on nine hits and four walks while striking out 11 over 7.1 spring innings.

Perez allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out four over 3.1 innings in Team Venezuela's 5-1 win over Team Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday.

Perez was down early after giving up a couple of hits to Julio Rodriguez and Juan Soto, but the left-hander settled in and gave his teammates time grab a lead they would not relinquish. Perez is coming off a career year and will be a key piece of a rotation that looks like one of the best on paper with the additions of Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi.

Kikuchi allowed four hits and three walks over 2.2 scoreless innings while striking out four in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies.

The southpaw ended up throwing 61 pitches (38 strikes) to get just eight outs, even if four of them did come via strikeout. Kikuchi remains the favorite to break camp with the No. 5 spot in the Blue Jays' rotation, and while he has yet to allow a run through four spring starts, his 13:6 K:BB in 9.2 innings is a reminder of both his tantalizing upside, and his erratic career in MLB to date.

Brown threw three shutout innings without allowing a baserunner while striking out three across three innings in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Marlins.

Brown had been roughed up in his first two spring training appearances, allowing four earned runs across two innings while also walking five. He settled in Sunday, however, throwing 26 of 34 pitches for a strike while sitting between 93 and 96 mph with his fastball, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Brown also delivered his longest outing of the exhibition season as he ramps up to occupy the fifth rotation spot once the regular season begins.

Mahle gave up two runs with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings in Saturday's spring start. Mahle has a 3.38 ERA with six strikeouts and one walk in 5.1 innings so far this spring.

More important than his stats, Mahle has looked healthy after he struggled with a sore shoulder last year, ending his season in August. Mahle had similar strikeout rates (9.4 K/9) and walk rates (3.2 B/9) last season in comparison to the past few years, so he could rebound after a disappointing season (4.40 ERA) to become a key part of the Minnesota rotation.

Kopech didn't allow a baserunner across three scoreless innings while striking out one in Cactus League action Sunday against the Angels.

The outing was Kopech's debut this spring, as he was brought along slowly while recovering from offseason knee surgery. He showed no ill effects while touching 98 mph with his fastball and requiring only 37 pitches to complete his work. Kopech still has plenty to improve upon in future outings, including throwing his changeup more -- he threw it only once Sunday -- and adjusting to the pitch clock, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.